New Mexico L.O.W.F.I

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Visit The Secret Sun

If the weather is bad, like it is snowing or the roads are slick, call Manzano Center (after 11 a.m.) and make sure the meeting hasn’t been canceled – (505) 275-8731.

Saturday I made a special trip to start my yearly stocking up on green chile from Hatch, NM.  I buy it already roasted and then bag and freeze it.  I like to buy from several different places because each batch is normally slightly different.  I try to buy enough to last the entire year because after harvest time it is hard to find.  So that was the first of many stocking up trips to come.  Also stocked up on Hatch red chile powder, though I prefer green chile there are many things that only red will do for.  Most New Mexicans, myself included, are chile snobs.  We know that we have the best chile in the world and nothing else will do.  We also eat a lot of chile, we eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner — snacks too.  The farmer’s market I went to was packed with other people stocking up on chile.  BTW, you do not want to peel or handle NM chiles without gloves — if you make that mistake you will pay for many days.

It is also Santa Fe Fiesta time.  Frankly, I don’t attend the fiesta normally, but it is very popular and people come from all over the world.  This year is the 400th anniversary of Santa Fe, so I would hope that the fiesta is even better than normal.  My favorite thing and probably the most popular part is the burning of Zozobra (or old man gloom).  It isn’t exactly Burning Man, but it is a 50 foot man and best of all he screams, moans and his arms flap about while he is burning.

Here in Albuquerque, we have the State Fair starting next weekend.  It used to be the 2nd largest in the US, but I am not sure if that is still true.  As you can see, it has a large midway.  Aside from that, there are lots of cultural events going on in the Indian and Hispanic Villages.  Tons of great food (my favorite part), lots of animals, horse shows, concerts, several art galleries and much more.

Next month, on Oct 3rd, starts the event that Albuquerque is probably most famous for – the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  Once again, something that people from around the world come to see and I almost never go to.  I never got because 1) you have to get there at the crack of dawn 2) it is cold out in Oct at the crack of dawn.  However, we do often go up to Sandiago’s at the tram and watch the balloon glow at night.  I like that because we avoid most of the balloon glow traffic and can sit inside where it is warm sipping margaritas while we watch the glowing for below.  We also often do that on 4th of July.  Not as spectacular as being there in person, but good enough for me since I don’t care much for crowds.

Not terribly far from my house a fire has been burning in the Manzano mountains.  I am not sure how long it has been burning now, but long enough to have burnt 275 acres.  It could have been put out days ago, but the DOD (who owns the land) wouldn’t let firefighters in because they said there might be “unexploded ordnances” left over from the 1940s and 50s.  Now, days later, they suddenly change their mind.  What?  Did the unexploded ordnances disappear over night?  It seems fishy to me.  I kind of wonder what might really have been going on over there and if whatever it was actually started the fire, rather than lightening as they claim.

While I was looking for photos of the fire I came across this page which is a pretty good page about Manzano base.  It has several illustrations, like this one -

At first glance it looks right, but having searched the area on google satellite many times there seems to be a lot of missing stuff.  Especially a lot of underground storage areas (or whatever those underground thingies are used for) there are a lot more than that map shows.  That map makes you think there is only 1 mountain with shafts going underground, but that is wrong.  The one shown is the largest and what is known as Manzano Mt, but there are also two smaller ones.  Also missing is Starfire Optical Range -

I am wondering how much land is owned by the DOD because the area where the fire is burning is not on that map.  It is actually fairly far from the base, meaning there is a lot more DOD land than what people consider to be KAFB and Manzano Base.

Just another strange little thing — the area the fire is burning at in the Manzano Mts is called Mars Canyon.  Did the DOD name it that?  While there are places in NM that resemble Mars, that area isn’t one of them.  It is very green, not desert at all.

I have tried most well know hallucinogenics, but not salvia divinorum. So this week I will go on a quest to find it, since it is legal. I assume from the news story a couple posts down it is sold at head shops and should be easy to find. Maybe they will even sell seeds and I can grow some too.

I am not expecting much. I have a friend that tried it and had absolutely nothing happen, but I will see for myself.

I wish they said what shops.  I feel I should stock up before they do something stupid like outlaw it.

It�s a hallucinogen that�s been around for years, but ask any parent, and they probably have no clue kids are using the common plant in a dangerous way.

It only grows in southern Mexico, a plant called salvia divinorum, and we found it packaged up and for sale on the shelves of several Albuquerque shops.

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SANTA FE – The Rainbow Family of Living Light has chosen a site in the Santa Fe National Forest for the group’s annual gathering next month. Many have begun to arrive in the little town.

Between 5,000 and 10,000 people are expected to attend July 1-7.

The gathering will be 22 road miles northeast of Cuba and southeast of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. Forest Service officials say the group has applied for a commercial use permit.

The Rainbow Family has no official spokesman and no members. The decision on where to stage the gathering is made by a loosely organized council.

The Forest Service will use a National Incident Management Team to coordinate with local and state law enforcement during the event.

—

Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican,

http://www.sfnewmexican.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

www.KOB.com – Rainbow Family to meet in Santa Fe National Forest

From late 1966 though late 1967 the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia along the Ohio River was terrorized by a series of sightings of an uncanny creature that became known as Mothman. He was typically described as a broad-shouldered black or gray humanoid at least seven feet in height with moth-like wings that extended about ten feet. His glowing red eyes seemed to have a hypnotic effect. Sometimes the creature appeared headless, with his round, reflective eyes set down in his shoulders.

The eerie entity would reportedly swoop down on people or cars and chase them at very high speeds. Sometimes it would suddenly shoot straight up in the air and completely disappear. The same period saw increased sightings of luminous balls or other UFOs and unexpected appearances of Men In Black.

Were all these sightings of Mothman and other anomalous incidents just a weird precursor to the brief psychedelic era in popular culture when hallucinations became the norm? Or are there precedents for this phenomenon in the distant past?

Cut to the high plain of central New Mexico in about the middle of the 14^th century. On the western bank of a turbulent, muddy river we see a flat-topped pyramid where a bizarre ritual is taking place. It involves a ring of elders wearing feathered headdresses, geometric medallions, white sashes, and brightly painted capes. Some are holding round shields and eagle-talon staffs.

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